Santa Anita Park in California

Santa Anita Park, owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., is located in Arcadia, California. Famed for hosting some of the best autumn/winter horse racing in the United States, Santa Anita race track has been a popular prestigious racecourse since its opening in 1934. Since then its popularity has flourished attracting many renowned race teams and celebrity spectators to its track.

A few years after its establishment, World War 2 broke out and Santa Anita was transformed into a Japanese-American internment camp. Racing at Santa Anita began again in 1945 and it soon began to prosper. Santa Anita lies nearby Los Angeles and has thus drawn a number of celebrity horse owners to its race days. Amongst these have been Bing Crosby, Errol Flynn, Louis B. Mayer (MGM) and Alex Trebek. A well-known personality who has been working as a Santa Anita track announcer since 1983 is Trevor Denman. Mr. Denman has been named one of the USA's best announcers. Two features at Santa Anita Park are a statue of Seabiscuit and one of George Woolf. Every year a the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is presented to a jockey who has proved he has exceptional standards of conduct.

Santa Anita Park encompasses an area of 320 acres with a 1 mile dirt track as well as a unique 7 furlong turf course. The massive art deco grandstand is able to accommodate some 26,000 racegoers, while a further 50,000 racegoers can make use of the infield area. Sixty-one barns provide enough stabling for over 2,000 race horses, with the state-of-the-art equine hospital equipped to handle any horse-related eventuality.